Back to normal at Port Hope arena after $50K fire

PORT HOPE — The Jack Burger Sports Complex is almost back to normal after a “minor fire” in a family change room at the facility caused an estimated $50,000 in damages.

As for the investigation into the fire, it’s still ongoing, confirmed C. Ryan Edgar, fire chief and director of Port Hope Fire and Emergency Services, on Wednesday.

It’s suspected the cause of the fire was due to an internal failure in a dryer unit which was installed in the family/accessible bathroom area, he said.

“Damage, including emergency repairs and restoration, has been estimated at $50,000,” Edgar said. The “initial remediation work” at the sports complex, which did suffer some smoke damage as a result of the fire, was complete as of Feb. 7, the municipality confirmed in an update following the fire.

All regular programming at the complex had resumed by Feb. 7 and with initial cleanup complete, the pool reopened later that evening. The arena had reopened the day before, on Feb. 6, following the “required inspections to the fire monitoring system.” Everything is pretty much back to normal, with the exception of the accessible family change room, Kate Ingram, the municipality’s communications and community engagement coordinator, confirmed.

Port Hope firefighters, alongside other emergency crews, responded to the call of a fire at the sports complex sometime after 5 p.m. on Feb. 5. There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire.